DE 10 2011 103 194 A1 discloses a distributor device for providing items which are sorted by article ID. To this end, circular storage conveyors are filled with articles sorted by article ID in such a way that if a particular article is required for more than one order, then the total number of that particular article is conveyed to a common circular storage conveyor. To complete an order which in particular consists of more than one item, the circular storage containers, which are sorted by article ID, are transported to an outgoing goods zone. The drawback of a device of this type is that if large orders are processed that comprise a large number of different articles, a large number of circular storage containers is required in order to provide the articles which are stored temporarily in such a way as to be sorted by article ID.
An installation and a method for sorting items is known from DE 43 35 637 C1. A three-stage sorting method is described that allows a plurality of unsorted items stored in a warehouse to be provided at an outgoing goods zone according to the respective order. The delivery method is complicated and requires a great amount of effort, particularly as far as the preparation of the sorting procedure is concerned. A method of this type is inefficient.